Reluctant readers take up book challenge

By Jeffrey S. Solochek, Times Staff Writer
In print: Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Bluford Book Battle All-Stars, left to right, Zachary Shearl, Oscar Seary and Janelle Perez worry as their opponents, the Bluford Blasters, answer final questions Tuesday in the Bluford book challenge at Weightman Middle School.
	[JANEL SCHROEDER-NORTON | Times]

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WESLEY CHAPEL

Rachel Berenguer didn't care for reading much.

It simply didn't hold her interest.

Then the Weightman Middle School eighth-grader picked up one of the books in the Bluford High series. Not by her own choice, mind you. She was enrolled in the school's intensive reading program for low performing readers, and school reading coach Ann Shanks told the students to read at least one of the 13 titles.

One of Shanks' past students boosted his FCAT reading score from Level 1 (the lowest) to Level 3 (grade proficient) using the Bluford books, and she figured others might replicate his success.

Rachel agreed to try, along with nearly 100 other students. And the books were a hit.

"I read all the books," Rachel said. "I think they're really good. They have good meanings, like about teenage life and what teenagers go through."

The kids got so into the books that their teachers decided to try something new. Stealing an idea shared by nearby Liberty Middle in New Tampa, Weightman decided to have a "battle of the books" for the kids in intensive reading.

Students warmed to the idea immediately.

"In other intensive reading classes, you just sit around and do work," said Zachary Shearl, 14. "In this, you can have fun and interact with other kids."

Rachel, 13, said she had shied from other competitions in the past.

"I just never thought I could do good in a contest," she explained.

The Bluford book battle got her primed to play, though.

For weeks, the kids boned up on all the details of their assigned books, preparing 15 six-member teams for Tuesday's single elimination tournament, in which they sought to prove they knew the most about the novels.

By noon, just two teams remained, the Bluford Book Battle All-Stars and the Bluford Blasters.

The round was to last 15 minutes. The winner would be the first team to reach 15 correct answers and hold a two-point lead.

The teams sat at opposing tables, their vanquished classmates watching quietly.

Back and forth they went, each team answering its question, giving no room for error in the challenge. They knew the minute details of the stories cold, as well as the vocabulary word meanings and plot twists. Just once did it appear a team made a mistake, but it got the question tossed out on appeal.

Fifteen minutes passed without a winner. Then 30. Then 45.

The kids at the tables tensed up. They held their breath, crossed their fingers, bit their lips.

Students in the audience murmured and whispered. There's not going to be a winner, they speculated as the score reached 23-23.

Finally, at 29-29, school reading specialist Virginia Hinze decided to end the contest. The students were clearly evenly matched, and the time had come for cake and ice cream. So she gave them 30 seconds to write as many titles from the series as possible, winner take all.

The Blasters scrawled out eight, while the All-Stars got 7 1/2.

The room exploded in cheers and hugs. One member of the All-Stars sat head down, crying, for the next 10 minutes as the room cleared.

"It was fun," said Rachel, captain of the winning team. "It taught us a lot about the books."

"It was good. We all competed. It was equal," said eighth grader Janelle Perez, captain of the opposing team. "It just depended on who was the faster writer."

The winning team members each received the full Bluford series to take home, while the second place finishers got selected titles from the series. Hinze said she couldn't have been more thrilled with the event: "For these kids to be motivated by getting the books is a real coup."

Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at solochek@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4614. For more education news, visit the Gradebook at blogs.tampabay.com/schools.